Background The use of virtual reality in higher education show great potential to promote novel and innovative learning experiences. Until recently, virtual reality has mostly been used in technical higher education, but lately medical education programs have begun using virtual reality. Virtual reality for health professional education improves the knowledge and skills of health professionals compared with traditional or other digital education initiatives. However, the implementation of technology in higher education is slow because of barriers to technology use and innovative and successful practices are not shared. It is, therefore, of great interest to explore how virtual reality is implemented in higher health professional and continuing education. Objective The aim of this scoping review is to identify studies that reported implementation of virtual reality in higher health professional education, to identify barriers and facilitators for implementation, and to highlight research gaps in this area. Methods The scoping review will be conducted according to JBI Evidence Synthesis methodologies. CINAHL, the Academic Search Elite and Education Source electronic databases, and Google Scholar will be searched for studies published between 2017 and 2022. In addition, manual searching of key items, reference tracking, and citation tracking will be performed. Searches for white papers will also be manually conducted. All authors will independently extract data from full-text papers. We will use qualitative content analysis to abstract the findings. Results The literature searches were conducted in January and February 2022. The review is expected to be completed by fall 2022, after which time it will be submitted for publication. Conclusions We anticipate that, from the review, we will be able to coordinate recommendations for and present the challenges of virtual reality initiatives in health professional education programs. We will present recommendations for future research. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) DERR1-10.2196/37222

Background Virtual reality has been gaining ground in health professions education and may offer students a platform to experience and master situations without endangering patients or themselves. When implemented effectively, virtual reality technologies may enable highly engaging learning activities and interactive simulations. However, implementation processes present challenges, and the key to successful implementation is identifying barriers and facilitators as well as finding strategies to address them. Objective This scoping review aimed to identify the literature on virtual reality implementation in health professions education, identify barriers to and facilitators of implementation, and highlight gaps in the literature in this area. Methods The scoping review was conducted based on the Joanna Briggs Institute Evidence Synthesis methodologies. Electronic searches were conducted in the Academic Search Elite, Education Source, and CINAHL databases on January 5, 2022, in Google Scholar on February 2 and November 18, 2022, and in PubMed database on November 18, 2022. We conducted hand searches of key items, reference tracking, and citation tracking and searches on government webpages on February 2, 2022. At least 2 reviewers screened the identified literature. Eligible studies were considered based on predefined inclusion criteria. The results of the identified items were analyzed and synthesized using qualitative content analysis. Results We included 7 papers and identified 7 categories related to facilitators of and barriers to implementation—collaborative participation, availability, expenses, guidelines, technology, careful design and evaluation, and training—and developed a model that links the categories to the 4 constructs from Carl May’s general theory of implementation. All the included reports provided recommendations for implementation, including recommendations for careful design and evaluation, training of faculty and students, and faculty presence during use. Conclusions Virtual reality implementation in health professions education appears to be a new and underexplored research field. This scoping review has several limitations, including definitions and search words, language, and that we did not assess the included papers’ quality. Important implications from our findings are that ensuring faculty’s and students’ competence in using virtual reality technology is necessary for the implementation processes. Collaborative participation by including end users in the development process is another factor that may ensure successful implementation in higher education contexts. To ensure stakeholders’ motivation and potential to use virtual reality, faculty and students could be invited to participate in the development process to ensure that the educational content is valued. Moreover, technological challenges and usability issues should be resolved before implementation to ensure that pedagogical content is the focus. This accentuates the importance of piloting, sufficient time resources, basic testing, and sharing of experiences before implementation. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) RR2-10.2196/37222

BACKGROUND Virtual reality applications in higher education show great potential to develop novel and innovative learning experiences. However, new ways of working are required to make use of new technologies and implementation is slow. Medical educations have experienced a major growth in using virtual reality recently, and it is therefore of great interest to explore how virtual reality is being implemented in higher health professional and continuing education. OBJECTIVE The aim of this scoping review is to identify studies reporting on implementation of virtual reality in higher health professional education, to identify barriers and facilitators for implementation, and highlight research gaps in this area. METHODS The literature search will include searches in the following databases: CINAHL, Academic Search Elite and Education Source, as well as Google Scholar. In addition, unpublished literature will be hand-searched. After initial screening, all authors will independently extract data from the included full-text documents. We intend to include studies published between 2017-2022. The review will focus on health professional higher education. Studies concerned with students and faculty at the higher health professional education level will be included, including continuing education for health care professionals. RESULTS Results will be presented in tabular form accompanied by a narrative summary. The review will include studies with quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods designs; and will include any systematic reviews and meta-analyses, as well as unpublished literature such as white and grey papers. CONCLUSIONS The conclusion will focus on recommendations for implementation of VR initiatives in health professional education, as well as recommendations for future research.